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Neighbors fought to free local swimmer from fatal wreck

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By Lawrence Budd, Staff Writer Updated 9:52 AM Wednesday, July 15, 2009

CLEARCREEK TWP., Warren County — While construction forced fire crews to take an indirect route to the crash on July 9 that claimed the life of star high school swimmer Andrew Worley, neighbors used ball bats and fire extinguishers to free him from the burning wreckage that night on Weidner Road.

Mill Street, the shortest route to the crash, was closed because of construction when Worley, 17, of Clearcreek Twp., crashed at 9:55 p.m., not far from his home.

Records indicate that emergency crews arrived four to six minutes after the first calls for help, rather than two or three minutes.

“I don’t believe it would have made any difference,” Acting Clearcreek Twp. Fire Chief Tom Morrison said Tuesday, July 14.

Worley, a record-breaking swimmer set to begin his senior year at Franklin High School, died instantly from multiple blunt force injuries, according to Morrison and a death certificate the Warren County coroner issued Monday.

Worley, a freestyler, was the first Franklin High swimmer to win a district title and qualify for the state meet.

He was buried Monday at Woodhill Cemetery in Franklin.

Survivors include parents Mark and Brenda Worley, and brothers Kyle and Brandon. Online condolences may be made to www.anderson-fh.com

“It’s something nobody wants to go through with a child,” Morrison said.

Six 911 calls reveal that neighbors struggled to free Worley from the burning 1999 Volkswagen Jetta that ended up in a ditch near 6440 Weidner Road. While urging emergency crews to get to the scene, callers said two men were trying to break the car’s windows with a baseball bat, despite an engine fire.

Onlookers feared an explosion. “They’re busting windows and everything else, but they can’t get him out,” one caller said.

Two fire extinguishers were used to control the fire, according to the 911 calls.

Emergency crews arrived and immediately determined Worley had died.

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